William H. “Bill” Payne, the so-called Grandfather of Angel Investing, died on Dec. 19, 2023. His wife, Ann Colvin Payne, and family members were with him at the end.
Payne was an international expert in the angel investing asset class, after a successful career as an engineer, CEO, and entrepreneur. He served as president of The American Ceramic Society in 1989–1990, and he was named an ACerS Distinguished Life Member in 2000. He was a member of the Electronics Division.
Born and raised in Peoria, Ill., Payne earned a B.S. and M.S. in ceramic engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). After graduation, he was employed as a research engineer at Interpace Corp. (Glendale, Calif.). During the 1960s, he worked for Hughes Aircraft developing thermal control coatings for the Surveyor unmanned lunar missions.
In 1971, Payne founded an electronics materials startup, Solid State Dielectrics (Burbank, Calif.), which he sold to DuPont Corp in 1982. Making one of his first angel investments, he encouraged his friend and colleague Andre Galliath to start Novacap, an electronic component manufacturer, in 1979. Payne was the first investor and served as director until the company was sold to Dover in 1987.
Payne served as an entrepreneur-in-residence for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Mo., from 1995 to 2007. During that time, he helped found the Angel Capital Association and initiated the angel education development program. He continued to share his knowledge in angel investing by developing and delivering workshops for accredited investors and entrepreneurs for more than two decades. In 2009, he received the prestigious Hans Severins Award, presented annually to the most influential U.S. angel investor.
During his lifetime, Payne invested in more than 60 companies, and his speaking engagements and educational workshops took him to eight countries. In 2010, Payne received the New Zealand ArchAngel Award for his impact on angel investing in the country, which he considered “the most beautiful in the world.”
In 2016, Payne received the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service from the College of Engineering at UIUC. He was also recognized for his outstanding service by the New York State Center for Advanced Ceramic Technology at Alfred University in 1994.
In 2004, Payne mentored student entrepreneurs by serving as the Anheuser Busch Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Arizona. Additionally, after moving from San Diego to the Las Vegas area in 2003, he served in an advisory role to the Rebel Venture Fund, a student-led venture capital group at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Although Payne was a victim of early onset osteoarthritis, enduring 18 joint surgeries beginning at the age of 50, it did not slow him down much. He remained an avid hiker and bicyclist and enjoyed time with family.